Judha “Eeyorr” Panggabean went from being a casual player to captaining Rex Regum Qeon, one of Indonesia’s top-rated Pokémon UNITE teams in just over a year.

The Pokémon UNITE World Championships Asia qualifiers have already begun and RRQ is one of the teams vying for a coveted spot in the main event. Respected for their strong team synergy and individual skill, they certainly have the potential to go all the way.

The start of Eeyorr’s competitive career

At the beginning of Eeyorr’s quest to become the very best, he never really thought of playing Pokémon UNITE competitively. He didn’t think the game would be competitive at all, but that changed when the Pokémon UNITE World Championship Series came about last year.

He was playing the game just for fun at the time and decided to participate. Though he wasn’t too serious about it, he was still one of the highest-ranked players in Indonesia.

He managed to find a team and played in the Asia Pacific qualifiers, where he did his best but unfortunately wasn’t able to qualify for the Pokémon UNITE World Championships 2022.

A few days after the Pokémon World Championships, he saw the CEO of Rex Regum Qeon, Andrian Pauline Husen, post on Instagram that RRQ was looking into Pokémon UNITE and were looking for potential players. Within the same post, Eeyorr commented, “Sir, please pick me!” jokingly. Unbeknownst to him, this could have been one of the many reasons why RRQ acquired Rise. Who knows, right?

Both Eeyorr and RRQ shared the same philosophy

At the recently concluded Pokémon UNITE Asia Champions League, the team, then known as RISE, placed fourth in the tournament. Despite not winning the entire thing, they were still acquired by RRQ. This April they started the first qualifier for the Pokémon UNITE World Championship Series in Asia, with RISE gone, now rising up from the ashes as Rex Regum Qeon.

After being acquired by one of Indonesia’s most revered esports organizations, Eeyorr was glad the main philosophy between the two teams was largely the same with RRQ continuing to let RISE play their own style. In addition to this, he’s happy that RISE and RRQ share the same goal towards Pokémon UNITE: to win the Pokémon World Championships.

Eeyorr’s dream of playing professionally had become a reality with RRQ

From a playful joke on an Instagram post to playing for RRQ, Eeyorr’s dream of playing professionally has become a reality.

”We are very happy and feel very privileged to be where we are right now.” he said. “Being able to have this opportunity of having this job is like a dream job for us.”

Being under RRQ has also let the team focus more on honing their game: “Having Pokémon UNITE as our primary responsibility, we, as a team, are still trying to find the most suitable arrangement for the team. We play at least 50% more than what we used to, and once we overcome all hurdles in the way for us to focus on Pokémon UNITE, I think we will be able to increase our practice hours even more.”

Eeyorr’s advice to aspiring Pokémon UNITE players

“Find and join a community that loves the game as you do and just go on from there.”

RRQ placed fourth in the Pokémon UNITE World Championship APAC West April Qualifiers. They’ll now have another chance to compete in the May Qualifiers in order to qualify for the Regional Qualifiers. From there, only three of the qualified teams will be able to compete in the World Championships.

Watch their journey as it unfolds on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch.

Stay up to date with Rex Regum Qeon’s Pokémon UNITE team by following their Facebook or Twitter account.

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